‘You think this Sir Eustace is dead, then?’

’I should say so.  Hopkins’s writing shows considerable agitation, and he is not an emotional man.  Yes, I gather there has been violence, and that the body is left for our inspection.  A mere suicide would not have caused him to send for me.  As to the release of the lady, it would appear that she has been locked in her room during the tragedy.  We are moving in high life, Watson, crackling paper, ‘E.B.’ monogram, coat-of-arms, picturesque address.  I think that friend Hopkins will live up to his reputation, and that we shall have an interesting morning.  The crime was committed before twelve last night.’

‘How can you possibly tell?’

’By an inspection of the trains, and by reckoning the time.  The local police had to be called in, they had to communicate with Scotland Yard, Hopkins had to go out, and he in turn had to send for me.  All that makes a fair night’s work.  Well, here we are at Chislehurst Station, and we shall soon set our doubts at rest.’

A drive of a couple of miles through narrow country lanes brought us to a park gate, which was opened for us by an old lodge-keeper, whose haggard face bore the reflection of some great disaster.  The avenue ran through a noble park, between lines of ancient elms, and ended in a low, widespread house, pillared in front after the fashion of Palladio.  The central part was evidently of a great age and shrouded in ivy, but the large windows showed that modern changes had been carried out, and one wing of the house appeared to be entirely new.  The youthful figure and alert, eager face of Inspector Stanley Hopkins confronted us in the open doorway.

’I’m very glad you have come, Mr. Holmes.  And you, too, Dr. Watson.  But, indeed, if I had my time over again, I should not have troubled you, for since the lady has come to herself, she has given so clear an account of the affair that there is not much left for us to do.  You remember that Lewisham gang of burglars?’

‘What, the three Randalls?’

’Exactly; the father and two sons.  It’s their work.  I have not a doubt of it.  They did a job at Sydenham a fortnight ago and were seen and described.  Rather cool to do another so soon and so near, but it is they, beyond all doubt.  It’s a hanging matter this time.’

‘Sir Eustace is dead, then?’

‘Yes, his head was knocked in with his own poker.’

‘Sir Eustace Brackenstall, the driver tells me.’

’Exactly—­one of the richest men in Kent—­Lady Brackenstall is in the morning-room.  Poor lady, she has had a most dreadful experience.  She seemed half dead when I saw her first.  I think you had best see her and hear her account of the facts.  Then we will examine the dining-room together.’